George Russell achieved his first victory of the season, finishing ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, who secured his first-ever podium finish. Meanwhile, championship leaders Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris encountered a collision late in the race, resulting in Norris retiring from the event and Piastri finishing in fourth place.
In a predominantly two-stop race with a variety of strategic approaches, the lead position changed multiple times throughout the event. In the final 15 laps, the leading contenders regrouped at the front of the field, maintaining a separation of approximately 10 seconds.
“It’s amazing to be back on the top step. Obviously, last time for us was back in Vegas. I felt last year was a victory lost,” Russell said. “And then obviously we got the victory today probably due to the incredible pole yesterday. And obviously, so happy to see Kimi on the podium as well. So amazing day for the team. Thanks to everybody back at the factory who’s been working so hard to get us back fighting for victories. And yeah, it feels good.”
While Russell and Verstappen maintained a comfortable lead in the top two positions, Antonelli, Piastri, and Norris engaged in a competitive battle for third place.
The title contenders, McLaren drivers, approached closely. In the final laps, Norris overtook his teammate Piastri at the Turn 10 hairpin. Piastri responded with a strong effort and regained the lead in the final chicane.
With the assistance of DRS, Norris attempted an overtaking move. However, the gap on the inside of the pit straight was insufficient, and after making contact with the rear of Piastri’s McLaren, Norris lost control and crashed into the wall, resulting in his retirement from the race. The top three drivers proceeded to the finish under the Safety Car.
“It was so stressful, but super happy. Had a good start, I managed to jump into P3,” Antonelli said. “And yeah, just stayed up there at the front. And the last stint, I pushed a bit too hard behind Max, and I killed a bit the front left. I struggled a bit at the end, but really happy to bring the podium home.”
Initially, Russell maintained his advantage from pole position to take the lead, with Verstappen also making a strong start. Behind them, Piastri faced considerable pressure from Antonelli, who successfully overtook him on the approach to Turn 3 to move into third place.
During the first ten laps, Verstappen began to lose positions to Russell, reporting that his tires were experiencing significant degradation. On lap 12, he chose to pit to replace his starting medium tires, prompting Mercedes to respond in order to prevent a potential undercut. Russell responded by pitting at the end of the following lap, maintaining his lead over the Dutch driver.
“It was quite a good race even though I think the two stints we were struggling quite a bit on the tires,” Verstappen said. “So we were doing quite an aggressive strategy. But luckily in that final stint, we managed to hang in there and actually the pace was a bit better on the bit lower fuel load. So that was good. I think we drove an attacking/defending race—attacking with a strategy, defending of course with the cars behind. But it worked out for us and I think that was the maximum possible for us today.”
Antonelli was next to pit on lap 15 and rejoined the track behind Verstappen. Piastri subsequently made his first stop, which elevated Norris, the Hard-tyre starter, into the lead. Norris was advised to deliver an exceptional performance, positioning him ahead of fellow Hard-tire competitor Charles Leclerc.
Russell and Verstappen gradually closed the gap to Leclerc and Norris. On lap 26, the Mercedes driver executed a clean overtake of the Monegasque driver approaching the final chicane. Verstappen subsequently closed the distance to the Ferrari, but on lap 29, Leclerc made the decision to relinquish the position and pitted for a second set of hard tires.
Norris made his first pit stop on lap 30, during which he changed from his Hard tires to a set of yellow-banded Mediums. This decision elevated Russell and Verstappen to the top two positions. At the halfway point, the Mercedes driver maintained a four-second lead over the Red Bull, with Verstappen positioned two seconds ahead of Antonelli and an additional two seconds ahead of Piastri. Norris rejoined the race in fifth place, seven seconds behind his teammate.
Verstappen, experiencing a loss of time and with Antonelli closing in within DRS range, made his second pit stop on lap 38 to fit a final set of hard tires. The reigning champion rejoined the race in sixth position, ahead of Hamilton. Mercedes responded by promptly pitting Antonelli; despite a close sequence, Verstappen emerged just ahead of the Italian driver.
During a period of congestion involving several backmarkers, and anticipating a challenging overtaking situation, Russell made a pit stop on lap 43. The Mercedes driver rejoined in fourth position, approximately three seconds ahead of Verstappen. On lap 46, Piastri also pitted for a new set of hard tires and rejoined in fifth place, positioned behind the out-of-sequence drivers Norris and Leclerc, who had been promoted to the front for a second time.
Norris made a pit stop from the lead on lap 48 to change to a final set of hard tires, while Leclerc pitted on lap 54 for a set of medium tires. Following these stops, they rejoined the race in fifth and sixth positions, respectively, as Russell took the lead ahead of Verstappen, Antonelli, and Piastri with 17 laps remaining.
Verstappen initially started closing the gap to Russell; however, the Mercedes driver was able to respond, and the distance between them remained stable. The primary competition then shifted to the two McLaren drivers. Norris advanced significantly and, on lap 67, attempted an overtaking move into the hairpin by diving down the inside.
It appeared that the British driver had successfully made the move, but Piastri responded with a defensive effort, resulting in both drivers proceeding side by side along the straight. Norris then made a strategic decision to concede into the final chicane to position himself for a potential DRS-assisted overtaking attempt on the pit straight. He attempted an inside overtaking maneuver; however, the space was insufficient, leading to contact with the wall and resulting in his retirement from the race.
“Time will tell. I mean, we won Austria last year, so maybe that’s a good omen,” Russell added. “But, you know, we’ll enjoy it for the time being. We did have high expectations coming into this weekend, and it worked out as we thought. So yeah. Good day. Good day.”
The Safety Car was deployed, and the field proceeded through the pit lane to form a line behind the FIA safety vehicle. However, due to the recovery of Norris’s car and with only three laps remaining, the race concluded under the safety car conditions.
Following race winner Russell, Max secured P2, achieving his 117th podium finish and the team’s 287th. Antonelli achieved his first Formula 1 podium finish by finishing third. Piastri remained on track after his incident with Norris to finish in fourth place, while Leclerc led Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton to finish in fifth and sixth respectively. Alonso finished seventh, ahead of Hülkenberg, Haas driver Esteban Ocon, and Carlos Sainz, both of whom made only one pit stop.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 70 –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 0.228
3 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 70 1.014
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 2.109
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 3.442
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 70 10.713
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 10.972
8 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 70 15.364
9 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 69 – 1 lap
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 69 – 1 lap
11 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 69 – 1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 69 – 1 lap
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 69 – 1 lap
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 69 – 1 lap
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 69 – 1 lap
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 69 – 1 lap
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 69 – 1 lap
18 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 66 – 4 laps
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 – Retirement
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 46 – Retirement
Photos/GeorgeRussell/X
